East Fishkill, a hamlet 70 miles north of New York City, has unanimously adopted a three-year moratorium on new data centres larger than 20 megawatts. The ban, implemented in late June, will remain in effect until July 2029, allowing officials to study potential impacts on water resources and local ecosystems.
The decision follows a significant local backlash against plans by Treetop Companies to develop a roughly 1-gigawatt artificial intelligence (AI) data centre. Residents organised rallies and attended town board meetings, despite no formal permit application being filed with the municipal government.
The proposed facility, which could span over 1 million square feet across approximately 143 acres, would consume more electricity than the entire town of Buffalo. The development company involved has appealed the temporary ban.
East Fishkill, historically a tech hub due to IBM's presence, previously had zoning laws that did not permit large data centre construction. Residents have stated their opposition is not against technology but against the unprecedented scale of emerging AI infrastructure.